Health Organization for Pudendal Education

Just to ask does a healing nerve still feel much the same as before but with days that are better ?

Violet mentions severe itching when healing - how can you tell the signs of healing as opposed to further irritation and things getting worse ?

Do misfiring nerves stop happening ? Does inflammation reduce ?

Thank you for any replies.

Rosemary X

Rosemary,

When my pain virtually disappeared (before returning years later) I found mysel having more better days and less awful days over a few months. I realized I was taking less Percocet until I couldn't remember the last time I had it. It was quite gradual, but over the course of several months, I could feel the difference. I never had any itching.

Sincerely,
Stephanies

Thanks for your reply Stephanie - it must be very frustrating for you that your pain returned after being better.

I have been off medication for a couple of months and am trying to see if my vulva pain will heal given time - had a couple of really bad days - followed by today not so bad. Looks like i need some good days in a row to be able to see any signs of healing.

Realise that it is different for everyone.

Rosemary X

Sorry you are having some bad days, Rosemary. For me healing was very gradual. Like Stephanie, slowly over time I started having more good days than bad and didn't need as much medication. Eventually the bad days weren't as bad as they were before. I would still get flare-ups sometimes but they didn't last as long as before.

Violet M

Thank you Violet

I am finding the pain sensations vary so much and difficult at the moment to say that i might be healing in any way. I have told myself that i am going to give it this year without medication to see if things can improve. The medication does little for me but makes me constipated.

You wonder why your body does all this to you.

Rosemary X

Maybe this is a stupid question but I wonder if damaged nerve can heal without any treatments?

Reason because I wonder is that I had symptoms related to PN and then they dissapeared for year and a half. If nerve is damaged I suppose that you will always have symptoms. So I' ve been thinking that my nerve healed on it's own and than again been damaged.

I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

Yes, nerves can heal. Nerves have axons and myelin sheaths. The neurologist I spoke with told me that the outer myelin sheath will be more likely to heal than the axon.

I have a close relative who has symptoms off and on but it's associated with activity. Do you have any idea what causes your nerve to flare up, Vjera?

Violet

Violet pain in my urethra started after prolonged sexual intercourse. That happend two years ago but didn't hurt all the time only after urinating. Pain stopped after ten days on it's own.

I didn't had pain until February this year again after sexual intercourse.
But again pain stopped on it's own.

Problem started in March again after intercourse but not in a way that my urethra hurts. I started feel burning and itching in my inner labia so doctor said it's a yeast infection and gave me some vaginal cream wich made my pain even worse. Then he gave me another cream but it also didn't help. They tested me for STD's and took bacterial swab and everything came back clear and than I started to be suspicious about what is happening to me.

In June pain in urethra show up without sexual intercourse and lasted for few days but than vulva burning become more intense and I started to have problems with urination.

It's obvius that my trigger is sex but why then I didn't had pain after every intercourse? I'm so confused.

Vjera, I'm not sure anyone can explain why you get pain sometimes but not always, because there can be more than one variable. Maybe it's not just sex that triggers pain for you but sex + something else, or several other things that may be triggers. Maybe there are musculoskeletal issues that you are not aware of.

When it comes to nerves healing I think you have to think in terms of months, not days. This is an excellent article on nerve regeneration.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/480071_5
http://tinyurl.com/okhbzxn

I don't think there is any one size fits all answer when it comes to nerve regeneration as you can see from the article.

Some people have posted improvement in symptoms just from lifestyle changes so I think it's possible to experience healing without having any formal treatment from a doctor. You just have to figure out what your triggers are and avoid those things. But, does that mean you will have to avoid sex permanently? Maybe that is not the solution for you?

Rosemary, to answer your original question, Dr. Antolak told me that the symptoms during the healing process tend to be the reverse of the original symptoms. I did experience that to some extent. For instance itching was one of my early symptoms and I went through that same stage during the healing process.

Violet

Thank you Violet
Rosemary X